彭蒙惠英语：Soybean Farming Impacts Environment（在线收听）

Soybean Farming Impacts Environment

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Infrastructure debated

The Bolivian Environment and Development Forum is now worried about the future of the country’s Amazon region, which borders Brazil. There, engineers hope to build two large dams to provide hydroelectric power to the remote region, raise water levels and transform more than 2,600 miles of floodplains into inland waterways.

Under the plan, which requires approval from federal and state governments on each side of the border, barges could transport soybeans from landlocked Bolivia to Brazilian terminals for export, and Brazilian producers would have increased access to Pacific ports via Peru.

Pacific ports are key for soybeans because China is now the biggest buyer. China imported 21.4 million metric tons of soybeans in 2003, about a third of the global total, and its imports are projected to surge.

Local poverty

Francisco Fortuny, a large soybean grower in Salta, Argentina, said environmentalists ignore the jobs created when land is cleared for soybeans. Jobs are created in the fertilizer sector and the number of truckers employed to haul soybeans increases. “They don’t take into account the most important thing: the people who live in a tremendous state of poverty,” he said.

Lesson learned

Chris Van Dam, an environmental sociologist at the University of Salta, worries about what’s happening. Efficient soybean growing, he said, leaves out small farmers because it requires lots of land. Soybeans also yield little gain for local economies because they’re mostly exported. Most of the profits end up in the hands of relatively few speculators, growers, farm equipment suppliers, exporters and shipping companies, many of them foreign.

Like past Latin booms, which exploited natural resources to feed markets for minerals and rubber, among other commodities, soy leaves little behind, said Van Dam.

“The lesson,” he said, “is that we have not learned that lesson.”

Vocabulary Focus

forum (n) [5fC:rEm] a situation or meeting in which people can talk about a problem or matter especially of public interest

speculator (n) [5spekjuleitE] a person who buys goods, property, money, etc. in the hope of selling at a profit

exploit (v) [iks5plCit] to use someone or something unfairly for one’s own advantage

Specialized Terms

landlocked (adj) 内陆的 enclosed by the land of other countries and having no sea coast

sociologist (n) 社会学家 someone who studies the relationships between people living in groups, especially in industrial societies

commodity (n) 商品 a substance or product that can be traded, bought or sold

黄豆种植影响环境

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基础建设之争论

“玻利维亚环境与发展论坛”现在很担心该国与巴西为界的亚马逊河地区的未来。工程师希望在该处兴建两座水坝，提供水力发电给偏远地区，提高水位，将2600多英里的冲积平原改为内陆水道。

此计划需要边界两边的联邦与州政府的同意。在此计划之下，大型驳船可将处于内陆之玻利维亚的黄豆运到终端的巴西，以便出口，而巴西的生产者将经由秘鲁增加往太平洋海岸港口的通路。

太平洋岸的港口对黄豆来说非常重要，因为中国是目前最大的买家。2003年中国进口了2140万吨的黄豆，约占全球总量的1/3，而其进口量预期将大幅增加。

当地的贫困

阿根廷萨尔塔省的黄豆种植大户佛朗西斯科·富杜尼说，环保人士忽略了开垦土地种植黄豆所创造的工作机会。肥料业与运送黄豆的卡车司机工作机会增加了。“他们没有考虑到最重要的事：就是处于极度贫穷状态的那些人民。”

学到教训

萨尔塔大学的环保社会学家克里斯·凡·丹姆对于眼前的现象感到忧心。他说，有效率的黄豆种植忽略了小户农民，因为所需的土地甚大。况且黄豆并未给当地的经济带来多少收益，因为大部分都出口。而大部分的利润最后都归入相对而言少数的投机商人、种植者、农耕机器供货商、出口商，以及运输业者，大部分都是外国人或外国公司。

凡·丹姆说，就像过去拉丁美洲的经济热潮剥削天然资源以养矿业与橡胶市场，还有其它一些商品也一样，黄豆几乎也没有为当地留下什么。

“这个教训”，他说：“就是我们还没学到教训。”